Adjustable school desk and seat



J. E. MOCALL 2,791,266

ADJUSTABLE SCHOOL DESK AND SEAT I May 7, 1957- Filed 001:. 15, 1954 1 17k, J Q r f0) A'rruRN EYs ADJUSTABLE SCHOOL DESK AND SEAT James E.McCall, Pasay City, Rizal, Republic of the Philippines ApplicationOctober 15, 1954, Serial No. 462,417

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-4) This invention relates to desks used in schoolrooms and the like, and in particular, a desk and seat combination ofthe collapsible type wherein the parts are folded together to facilitatestoring and shipping and in which both the seat and desk are adjustableso that the device is adapted to accommodate children of differentsizes.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a collapsible seat and desk,preferably formed of wood or other suitable material, wherein the partsare adapted to be readily taken apart and also readily assembled andwherein :the positions of the seat and desk are readily changed.

Various types of wood, and particularly metal, desks have been providedfor school use, and although parts of desks of this type are adjustable,it is difiicult to combine the adjustable mounting elements with thecollapsible construction with the desk having sufficient rigidity foruse in a school room. With this thought in mind, this inventioncontemplates a combination seat and desk in which vertically disposedend portions are snugly fitted in sockets. in horizontally disposedelements whereby with the parts secured together with bolts and with thebolts extended through slots the parts are rigidly and at the same timeadjustably held.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide means for forminga collapsible seat and desk in which the parts are adapted to beadjusted to accommodate children of different sizes and in which thedevice has sufiicient rigidity for school room use.

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable collapsibleseat and desk combination for school room use in which the parts aresecured together with bolts whereby play, due to expansion andcontraction of the elements and also due to wear, may readily be takenup.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjustablecollapsible desk and seat combination for school room use in which thedevice is of asirnp'le and-economical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionembodies fioor engaging base members with vertically disposed recessesin inner surfaces thereof, vertically disposed end members fitted in therecesses of the base members and adapted to be secured therein withbolts, a seat carried by cleats with horizontally disposed slots thereinsecured to the end members with bolts extended through said slots, adesk having upper and lower panels mounted on end walls and anintermediate partition positioned on upper ends of vertically disposedend members at the back of the device and having recesses suificient toreceive the upper ends of said end members, bolts for securing the endwalls of the desk to said end members, said bolts being extended throughthe end walls and vertically disposed slots of the vertically positionedend members, a horizontally disposed panel providing a back for the seatsecured to the forward ends of the end walls and partition of the desk,and a foot rest extended between and carried by the said base members.

nitcd States Patent Other features and advantages of the invention willappear from the following description, taken in connection with thedrawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view of the adjustable collapsible seatand desk combination showing the seat and desk in adjusted positions inbroken lines.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the seat with parts broken awayshowing the connection of one of the cleats of the seat to one of thevertically disposed end members.

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the device with parts broken awayshowing a connection between one of the end walls of the desk and theupper end of the vertically disposed end member.

Figure 4 is a sectional plan taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1 showing theupper portions of the vertically disposed .end members nested in arecess of the ba'se'memher and the bolt connecting the cleat at one endof the seat to the vertically disposed members.

Figure 5 is a sectional plan illustrating the construction at one end ofthe desk and showing an end wali of the desk secured, by a bolt, to theupper end of the rear end member.

Figure 6 is a cross section taken on line 6-"6 of Figure 1 showing theconnection of the foot rest to the base member at one end of the deviceand also showing the lower end of one of the vertically disposed endmembers extended upwardly from saidconnection.

Referring now to the drawing, wherein like reference characters denotecorresponding parts, the improved school room desk of this inventionincludes base rails wand 11, forward end panels 12 and 13, rear endpanels 14 and 15, seat cleats 16 and '17 for supporting a seat 18, afoot rest 19, a horizontally disposed back panel 20, and a desk having atop or upper panel 2 1, a lower panel 22, end walls 23 and 24, and anintermediate partition 25.

The base rails 10 and 11 are provided with intermediate recesses, asindicated by the numeral 26 in Figure 1, whereby end portions formingfeet 27 and 28 are provided at the ends to facilitate positioning thedesks upon uneven surfaces, and the inner faces of the base rails 10 and11 are also provided with recesses, as indicated by the numeral 29 inFigure 4, with shoulders 30 and 31 at theends whereby with the lowerends of the panels 12 and 14 at one end and 13 and 15 at the oppositeend snugly fitted and nested in the recesses the vertically disposed endpanels are adapted to be wedged and rigidly held. The lower ends of thepanels '12 and 13 are clamped to the base rails with bolts 32 and 33 andthe lower ends of the panels 14 and 15 with bolts 34 and 35.

The foot rest 19 which isprovided with a beveled upper surface 36 issupported by tongues 37 which, as illustrated in Figure 2, extend belowthe lower ends of the vertically disposed end panels and also into therecesses 26 of the base rails, and these tongues are secured to the baserails with bolts 38 which are adapted to be selectively positioned inspaced openings 39. By this means the foot rest is adjustable forwardlyand rearwardly by moving the foot rest 19 into a comfortable positionfor the occupant and inserting the bolts 38 in the openings 39 mostclosely approximating the required position.

The cleats 16 and 17 which support the seat 18, are provided withelongated slots 4t) through which bolts 41 extend, the bolts beingpositioned in openings in the panels 12 and 14 at one end and 13 and 15at the other end, as illustrated in Figure 1. The panels 12 and 13 areprovided with additional openings, as indicated by the dotted lines 42,and the panels 14 and 15 have similar openings as indicated by thedotted lines 43 whereby the cleats are adapted to be moved upwardly andoutwardly with the bolts 41 extended through the openings tions of thecleats, beyond the slots 40, are reinforced with screws 44 which extendacross the slots and into the upper portions of the cleats. The innerportions of the cleats 16 and 17 are provided with recesses, asindicated by the numeral 45 and as shown in the broken away portion inthe intermediate part of Figure 2, and with the seat, as shown in Figure1, shoulders 46 at the upper ends of the recesses rest upon the upperends of the forwardly disposed panels 12 and 13.

The upper portions of the vertically disposed panels 14 and 15 areprovided with elongated slots 47, in the lower ends of which a panel 48may be positioned, and bolts, as indicated by the numeral 49 and whichare mounted in the end walls 23 and 24 of the desk, extend through theslots, providing means for adjustably mounting the desk in the upperportions of the end panels. The panel 48, which is secured in positionby bolts or wood screws, may or may not be used as may be desired. Thebolt 49 provides means for adjusting the elevation of the desk, asindicated by the broken lines in Figure 1, and, as illustrated in Figure5, the end walls 23 and 24 are provided with recesses 51 havingshoulders 52 and with the upper ends of the panels 14 and 15 wedgedbetween the shoulders 52 and rear surface of the back panel 20 the deskportion of the assembly is rigidly held.

The back panel 20 is adapted to be secured in position with screws 53,or by other suitable means, and the panels 21 and 22 are secured to theend walls and the intermediate partition with a suitable adhesive or bythe use of screws or other fastening elements.

With the parts formed as shown and described, a seat may readily beassembled with the vertically disposed end panels wedged in the recesses29 of the base rails and with the seat and desk adjustably mounted onthe end panels. With the parts bolted together, the seat assembly mayreadily be separated with the desk and seat removed from the verticallydisposed end panels and with the end panels and foot rest removed fromthe base rails. With the bolts extended through the slots, the parts arereadily adjustable and it will be understtood that the last seat of arow, or a seat adapted to be positioned with the back against the wall,may be assembled with the desk omitted and with the rear portion of the'base rails formed to provide feet. With the device used as a back orlast seat of a row, the extended portions of the seat or the base railsmay be omitted whereby a "straight surface may be provided at the backor rear edges of the vertically disposed end panels 14 and 15.

The intermediate partition 25 may or may not be used as may be desired,and whereas this is particularly desirable to provide separate bookretaining compartments in a double desk, it is not necessary in a singledesk.

This desk is designed particularly to answer the school desk problem inthe backward countries of Middle East and South East Asia where there isa need for desks and seats light in weight and at the same time durable,and wherein the desks can be constructed in the local shops and withunskilled labor and with local and inexpensive materials. For the samereasons the desks are collapsible, portable, and must conform tohygienic requirements.

It will be understood that other modifications, within the scope of theappended claim, may be made in the design and arrangement of the partswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a desk and seat combination for use in a school room, the combinationwhich comprises spaced parallel base rails with recesses in lower edgesthereof providing feet at the ends and with vertically disposed recessesin inner faces thereof, forward and rear panels positioned with lowerends thereof wedged in the recesses of the base rails and with upperparts extended upwardly from said base rails, bolts extended through thelower ends of the panels and base rails for securing the panels to thebase rails, a foot rest having an inclined upper surface extendedbetween said base rails and adjustably mounted on said base rails, boltsextended through upper portions of the forward end rear panels, saidforward and rear panels having a plurality of bolt holes therein, a seathaving vertically disposed cleats on the lower surface positioned withthe cleats against outer surfaces of the end panels,

said cleats having elongated horizontally disposed slots extendedinwardly from rear ends thereof and said slots being positioned toreceive bolts extended through the bolt holes of the end panels,providing adjustment of the seat forwardly, rearwardly, upwardly anddownwardly, the rear end panels having elongated vertically disposedslots extended downwardly from upper ends thereof, a desk havinghorizontally disposed upper and lower panels connected with end wallsand an intermediate partition and having a back panel on the forwardend, said end walls of the desk having vertically disposed recesses inouter surfaces thereof and said recesses being adapted to receive upperends of said rear panels, and bolts positioned in the end walls of thedesk and adapted to be positioned in the slots of said rear panels foradjustably securing the desk to said end panels, the upper ends of saidend panels at the rear of the device being adapted to be wedged in therecesses of the end walls of the desk and between shoulders of the endwalls and extended ends of said back panels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS334,171 Irvin Jan. 12, 1886 889,579 Brooke June 2, 1908 2,061,163 McCallNov. 17, 1936

